In any survival or military scenario, fresh drinking water is always a critical requirement to sustain life. Recreational water enthusiasts and military personnel from all branches of the DoD (especially sea-going troops) can suddenly and unexpectedly find themselves in a survival situation where the absence of drinking water may be fatal. The human body cannot live without fresh water (one cup of water per day is the absolute minimum in ideal environmental conditions). Spare drinking water and reverse-osmosis pumps are commonly available in larger survival kits (e.g., on life rafts and seat kits); however, the ability for individuals to carry emergency drinking water, or the technology to produce drinking water, is non-existent in current recreational or military survival equipment.
Civilian boaters, military personnel, and other sea-going persons, and hikers have a need for a portable personal passive solar water desalination/purification device. There are many documented cases of people going overboard when trying to relieve themselves. If mariners have the ability to always be equipped with an extremely compact water purification system (carried on their person at all times), their chances of surviving an accidental fall overboard will increase significantly. For persons engaged in land-based activities or ground-based military personnel, the device can be carried on their person to enhance their chances of surviving a land-based emergency or mission.
Military and survival experts have expressed the need for a compact water purifying technology that can be carried on the person to complement existing personal passive lifesaving technologies, i.e., ESFS (U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,016)(floatation) and the military-approved SEE/RESCUE® streamer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,421,287).